in other words, the color-matching technique requires the assumption that I i 
vents remain unblocked. Because vent blocking alters yields dramatically, 1 1 ! 
the graphic reminder not to block vents also may be useful in its own right. I !| 
The color-matching technique is a tool that can be used in future studies 
on compensation. Figure 2 also demonstrates how the color-matching lii 
technique and the stain-pattern technique could be included on cigarette p; 
packaging for consumer use. Color-matching information may better reflect I ji 
the actual cigarette yields to smokers than the alternative FTC method. The | ji 
FTC machine estimates of tar and nicotine yields can be unreliable given the || j 
variability among smokers and the various methods of compensation. 
Further developmental work is needed on this color-matching technique. 
In the land of a largely blind FTC testing method, even a one-eyed color- 
matching technique could be king (Kozlowski and Rickert, 1984). It is not 
necessary to be perfect in providing the consumer with better information 
about the tar and nicotine yields of cigarettes to improve on the current 
standard method. A color scale attached to cigarettes can emphasize to the 
consumer that the yields from a cigarette depend on how the cigarette is 
smoked. Graphically, a color scale helps smokers see that yields are not 
captured by any one tar or nicotine number, and thus smokers can get a 
sense of where they stand in relation to the standard. 
SUMMARY Our review of brand-switching studies indicated that smokers increase 
nicotine intake from lower yield cigarettes by compensatory behavior, 
including filter-vent blocking. This behavior is a neglected issue for smokers 
of light and ultralight cigarettes. The current FTC testing method used to 
estimate average tar and nicotine yields of cigarettes is compromised by 
compensatory smoking behavior and individual variability among smokers. i 
Graphic techniques (e.g., the color-matching technique and the stain-pattern 
technique) also need to be explored as ways to provide estimates of tar and 
nicotine yields to smokers of lower yield cigarettes. Simple graphic materials 
may help these smokers realize that a low-yield cigarette can provide high 
yields when smoked in certain ways. i 
QUESTION-AND-ANSWER SESSION I 
DR. BENOWITZ: Lynn, you said that in one study about half the people 
were vent blockers. My work and the Gori study suggest that people are 
taking in, on average, about .7 mg of nicotine per cigarette, which is 1 
tremendously more than would be possible taking more puffs. So, I think ' 
virtually everyone who smokes ultralow-tar cigarettes must be blocking. 
And how many of the holes do these ultralow-tar cigarette smokers block? 
DR. KOZLOWSKI: 'Fhe story 1 like is the student of mine in class who said •' 
his aunt, who smokes an ultralow-tar cigarette, keeps a roil of transparent fl 
tape on her coffee table. When offering a cigarette to a friend she will say, ■ 
"Do you want that taped or untaped?" Bizarre as that might be; it happens. I 
It illustrates that peo[)le do not understand what ventilation does to K 
their cigarette. I had a call years ago from an angry executive as a result of l! 
